In Saecula Saeculorum
by WinterCactus
Summary: Much of the entire world lies in ruins after Walpurgisnacht appears, infinitely more powerful than Homura remembers it. Mami perishes in the battle and Homura's shield is shattered. The one-sided battle leads to a struggle for survival in the wake of the destruction wrought by the witch, sending the survivors into uncharted territory.
1. Tokyo I: Homura

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

Mitakihara City lay in ruins. The _world_ lay in ruins. I've failed.

We sat just inside a cave in a mountainside to avoid the incessant rain. Two backpacks sat around a small campfire. Laid out on the ground in front of me were bits and pieces of scrap metal, glass, and grains of sand; the remains of my shield. It's been three weeks since Walpurgisnacht appeared. For the first time, I had managed to gather all of the others to fight it together. Sakura Kyōko. Tomoe Mami. Miki Sayaka. Mami even managed to get about a dozen others from neighbouring cities arriving to fight.

As if the universe was mocking me, Walpurgisnacht appeared. This time, though, it was far more powerful than it had ever been. We stood no chance. The final moments of the battle had been chaos. We had began to retreat after realising the true strength of the witch, but to no avail. Almost everyone who fought had died. Even Tomoe Mami.

"Homura-chan…"

I shifted my attention from the rain outside to the pink-haired girl sitting by the fire. Her eyes were downcast, filled with a sadness that ached my heart as well. Walking over, I sat down next to her. Even now, the mask I developed held firm. I hated the monotone sound of my own voice.

"What is it, Madoka?" I asked.

"What… what's going to happen now? Where do we go from here?"

Silence. I wish I had an answer to that, too. How could I possibly tell her there was nowhere _to go_?

* * *

The _battle is lost. I can't even turn back time now. Damn it all. How many of us survived? It doesn't even matter. Walpurgis knocked the survivors at least a city over. I have to find Madoka before it's too late. I ran even faster, breath hitching every few seconds. Cuts adorned me all over, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was…_

" _The shelter," I whispered. In the distance, a massive building lay destroyed, smoke billowing from the collapse. I ran towards it. When I reached it, bodies were strewn everywhere, blood soaking the area red. Some had been crushed under rubble, others barely conscious. The screams that arose from my vocal cords did not sound human. Bile filled my throat as the thought that Madoka was dead crossed me, and I retched. I was a failure. Walpurgis was free, and not even a dozen Puella Magi were enough to stop it. The world blurred around me. Dazed, I must've been wandering the ruins of the city for days before Madoka found me. Together, at her insistence, we scoured the area for her family. It might've been better if we hadn't. They were dead, crushed by a massive slab of steel that was once the roof of the shelter._

" _Mama! Papa! Tatsuya!" she cried. She ran over and cradled her baby brother in her arms. Tears spilled from her round, pink eyes, mixing with the rain and blood. She turned to me, eyes glistening. Was she going to-._

" _Hey, Homura-chan. Y-you can go back in time right? You c-can prevent all this right?"_

 _My heart shattered in that moment. Wordlessly, I pulled the remnants of my shield out of my pocket and shook my head. My voice barely worked as Madoka broke into another round of hysterical sobbing as she realised what I was holding up, realised what it meant. I had told her of my powers before the battle and what I had wished for. I failed._

" _I-I'm sorry, Madoka" was all I managed to choke out._

* * *

In the days following the battle, Walpurgis had moved on, laying waste to the rest of Japan. At first, we took refuge in the underground room of my house, listening on a small radio for news. All of it bad. A week later, the radio fell silent. Japan had fallen as the last radio channels filled themselves with static. Still hopeful, we turned on my laptop. To our surprise, we found a still-working internet connection, meaning a tower somewhere was still functional nearby. Headlines filled every website we went to.

"Japan completely destroyed by freak storm"

"Central authority collapses; massive devastation"

"UN to dispatch relief teams to Japan"

That sort of thing. Then, news began to flow in that South Korea was experiencing storms similar to Japan. Then, reports from Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia. News became scarcer and scarcer, and eventually, the internet we had been using vanished. Madoka had lost her vibrant personality after the discovery of her family's fate. Where a bright light had once shone in those pink eyes, now it was dull. As dull as my own violet eyes.

Another week passed. Two weeks since Walpurgis. I found no indication of Kyōko or Sayaka nearby. By this point, the food and water that was stockpiled in my basement began to run low. Madoka and I packed a backpack each and we left, bringing what little supplies we had. I chose not to eat or drink, since I could use magic to fill in what I was missing. I had more than enough grief seeds from countless timelines anyway.

A third week passed, and we were well away from Mitakihara now. Kyuubei had vanished as well. Madoka and I had passed through a few cities in silence, only stopping to see if we could salvage any supplies from abandoned stores. By my estimates, we were near Tokyo now. The city in which I grew up. Some ruins sprawling in the distance seemed to confirm my suspicions.

I picked up the pieces to my shield, trying to figure out which piece fit where. It was futile, at best. Futile, but I had to try and figure out how to fix it. After all, I have no inherent magical potential for attacking or defending. Everything I had depended on for weaponry was inside the now-inaccessible storage of the shield.

I hated myself. If only I had been stronger, than Madoka wouldn't have to be out here in the middle of a devastated world. I hated myself for being weak. Beside me, Madoka stared into the fire. She had not smiled ever since leaving Mitakihara. I glanced down. My watch read 2 AM.

"Hey," I said, shifting closer. "You should get some sleep. We should be getting close to Tokyo. My parents had a house there. Hopefully the basement is still intact."

She nodded.

Soon after, Madoka dozed off, head lolling to the side and resting on my shoulder. In the past, this would've flustered me. How things have changed... The fire also gave out, leaving nothing but a few pieces of burnt wood and ash in its place. I stared at my old shield again. Useless. I knew I should probably dispose of it, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. After all, I'm useless without it.

So far, we've run into a few gangs on the way. Even without my shield, I was able to take them out thanks to the enhanced strength that came with being a Puella Magi. We were lucky enough not to encounter any other Puella Magi. I don't I could protect Madoka if we do. Gently, I pushed her head off of my shoulder and stood. Throwing a few more logs into the makeshift fire pit we had created, I lit another fire. My watch read 4 AM.

I spread out the contents of our backpacks on the ground. Not that there was much. It had been several days since we last passed through a city, and there was barely any food left. It would be barely enough to get us to Tokyo. I prayed it hasn't been all pillaged yet. A high chance that there would be a Puella Magi claiming the area as her territory. I hope she's someone I can just pay off with grief seeds. I have about fifty left, and typically a single grief seed can last a week or two. Four should be enough, provided she's someone who can be bought off like that.

I stared at the sleeping pinkette next to me. The bitter taste of failure filled my mouth again.

' _I'm so sorry, Madoka…'_ I thought, as I too began to fall asleep. It didn't last long though, as I woke up around 4 hours later. 8 AM.

It was 11 AM when she finally woke up.

"Good morning," I said, handing her some bread that we found in the last city we had passed through. God, how I _hated_ the monotone sound of my voice.

"Good morning, Homura-chan."

She took it, then tore it in half and handed one of the halves to me. I looked at her.

"Take it," she said. "You haven't eaten anything since Mitakihara. I'm worried."

I shook my head, eyes closed. "I told you. I don't need it. I can use magic."

She stared at me, with those large pink eyes. The eyes that held so much power over me. If only she knew what she could do to me if she really wanted. I relented, and we sat by the dying embers of the fire eating. Before long, we were done. Time to move along.

"You see that there in the distance, Madoka? That's Tokyo. My home city. We should be able to find supplies in the basement of my parents' house"

She nodded.

We packed our bags and left the cave. The scenery all around was the same. The earth was as grey as the sky, and no life could be found. No birds, no rabbit. Not even a single insect. The trees had no leaves, despite it being May. Occasionally, we came across some cars on the roads. Most of them were flipped on their side or upside down. Blood coated the windshield, concealing the dead driver that was surely slumped over the steering wheel inside.

We walked for hours. It wasn't an issue for me, being a Puella Magi. Madoka never complained, either. I guess that's why I admired her in the first place. Regardless, I knew she was tiring. The ruins of the city could be seen clearly now. Maybe another half hour. I nudged her shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"It's about another half-hour until we reach the city. Do you want to take a break first?"

"I'm fine, Homura-chan. Let's just keep going."

"Alright then."

We continued walking in silence. The sound of metal striking against metal grew louder as we approached the city. There was a fight going on at the outskirts of the city. Normally, I would've attributed this to human gangs fighting for survival had it not been for the magical emanations coming with each _clang_.

"Puella Magi," I said, gritting my teeth. "We'll have to detour around them, Madoka. I...I can't fight without my shield."

That last sentence was hard for me to admit, but I'd rather have my pride take the injury than run the risk Madoka taking an injury. She simply clung to me in fear and nodded. We veered off to the left, away from the sound of clashing metal. Slowly, the sounds faded. About ten minutes after, we reached my parents' house. Well, what was left of it at least. Luckily, the basement had a separate door, saving us the trouble of digging through the ruins. We circled around to the back of the ruins, finding a small rectangular door with a ladder leading underground. We went inside, closing the door behind us and dropping our bags on the ground next to the ladder.

Shuffling.

Madoka and I weren't alone.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **No, I have no abandoned my other stuff. This is an idea I've been toying with in the back of my head while writing for Doors and Eternity. If you guys enjoyed this, please leave a review. More reviews=more motivation :D**

 **I've never really written anything big in first-person so this is quite new for me. Hopefully it's not as awkward to read as it was for me to write!**


	2. Tokyo II: Kyōko

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

"Fuck!" I yelled as a blade narrowly swung past me. Behind me, a voice yelled back.

"Oi, watch your language, Kyōko!"

"Shut it, blueberry!"

We were surrounded. Sayaka and I stood back to back, staring at a ring of people surrounding us. We could have easily beaten them all, seeing as they weren't Puella Magi, but Sayaka insisted on harming them as little as possible. Instead, we now looked for openings to run through and flee the bandits. The leader of the gang, the largest of the men who surrounded them, spoke.

"Give it up, kids. You're outnumbered and surrounded."

I shifted my head back a little to speak to Sayaka.

"May I?" I ask as sarcastically as I can. She knew exactly what I was talking about and grinned.

"Just this once, Kyōko. Just this once."

I took a deep breath, gathering as much air as I could.

"EAT….SHIT!"

The ring of bandits charged. Bad idea. In perfect unison with each other, Sayaka and I bashed our way out of the ring. Then, we bolted. It was a shame, really. I had been itching to beat something up ever since Walpurgisnacht knocked us all the way to Kazamino. As a bit of salt in the wound of defeat, we crashed through the roof of my family's church and landed in the middle, destroying at least half the benches in there. If only Sayaka wasn't such a goody two-shoes, then I could finally get some exercise.

It had been three weeks since we got our asses whooped by that giant monstrosity of a witch. We got off lucky, since we survived, but a few others weren't so lucky. Mami, for instance, got her Soul Gem smashed to bits. Last I saw Homura, she had been flung into a nearby building, which collapsed from the impact. Then there was Sayaka's best friend, pinkie. Who knows what happened to them? Certainly not us.

We had decided to head to Tokyo. It was a flimsy plan, but maybe there was still some form of society there. I highly doubted it. Even from Kazamino, we could see the massive form of Walpurgisnacht leaving Mitakihara and moving on with its rampage.

By the time we got back to Mitakihara, everything was in ruins. Sayaka….took it well enough, as good as can really be expected. So now, here we were, chased by humans that we wouldn't even break a sweat beating. We ran for what seemed like several minutes until we reached a thick forest. The canopy overhead was thick enough to block out most of the little sunlight made it through the grey clouds.

We went in, slowing our pace once we saw that they had given up the chase. After a while, we came across a clearing, with a log on its side in front of a fire pit. We sat, unpacking some food. We didn't actually need to eat, but we liked to. So whenever we managed to get some, we'd eat, pretending like we were still normal humans. We opened a few packs of crackers and some tuna.

"Hey, Sayaka. Do you think Homura's still alive?" I ask the blunette sitting next to me.

"I'd like to believe so, but that transfer student had some serious issues. I would be surprised if she died trying to continuously fight Walpurgis. If I'm completely honest though, I only hope she's alive because she's hell-bent on protecting Madoka."

"So pinkie's the one you actually care about then?"

Sayaka looked up at the sky.

"Yea, I guess. I'm not much better than the transfer student in that regard."

"Huh," I said. "I never thought your pride would let you say that."

"...shut up, Kyōko."

"Heheh, love you too, Sayaka."

* * *

That night, it was my turn to keep watch whilst Sayaka slept. There was little to no movement in the forest we were in. All was silent. Well, silent except for the sound of me eating some Pocky. People sure are weird, in my opinion. They'll go pillaging for food, but even in time like these, they leave stuff there if they don't consider it "real" food. Oh well. More for me.

Living in the wilderness certainly had its uses. Sayaka and I learned pretty quickly on how to use our magic to block out the cold at night. I wish Kyuubei had taught us things like that, even though I was never quite fond of that little rat. The sound of Sayaka's breathing really bothered me. Who knew someone could breathe this loudly? Oh well.

I'm no genius at geography, but I think we're at least close to Tokyo at this point. The two of us should be able to reach the city in the morning. Hopefully there was still some form of order there but I highly doubted it. Still, if it was to exist anywhere, it'd be in the capital.

At some point in the night, I dozed off. When I came to, I found a familiar blue-haired figure glaring at me, arms crossed.

"Jeez, Kyōko. Falling asleep on the watch again?"

"Sorry," I said, scratching my head.

It was daytime now, maybe around noon. Time to go the distance. Tokyo was probably east? I don't really know, but Sayaka has the map so I'm not gonna say anything. I didn't really want to break her hopes that there would be some form of organised community there after the shitstorm that was Walpurgisnacht, but if nothing else, we might find Homura there. And where Homura is, there's probably a very bubbly pink-haired girl with her. If, that is, she's alive. We walked in silence. I was really tempted to just say something to bait a reaction out of Sayaka. Silence was way too boring for me.

About an hour later, we were on the outskirts of the city ruins. Massive towers stood on either side of us, windows smashed and bodies everywhere. Most of the towers had been knocked over, creating rubble strewn all over the roads. We slowed our pace, taking in the scene of utter desolation around us. As was usual with any area that had experienced a major disaster, there was bound to be grief. And where there was grief, there would be witches. Without saying a single word, the two of us fanned out to try and find the entrance to a barrier. Even though we argued a lot, Sayaka and I understood each other like words in an open book. I guess it could be called a love-hate relationship?

"Oi, Kyōko! I found one! Over here!"

In an instant, I had appeared by her side, staring at a section of a stone wall that seemed to shimmer and shift. We both took out our Soul Gems and plunged inside. To the outsider, it would have seemed like we just walked through a wall. Which, I guess, we did. The barrier was all dark, with very little of the creepy landscape that usually marked a witch's lair. A bad vibe ran through me, some sort of intuition that this was a fight we shouldn't be taking. Sayaka stepped over to me, as if sensing my hesitation.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Something about this place doesn't….feel right. I don't think we should fight this one. We should leave."

Normally, Sayaka would have argued that leaving it here would be a danger to other people. She didn't try to do that this time, which told me she had the same feeling about this barrier as well. It was...too calm for a barrier. Without turning, we slowly stepped backwards while keeping an eye on our surroundings for any attacks. None came. We stepped back out into the ruins of the city, letting out a deep breath. An awkward silence descended as we stared at the wall. Then Sayaka laughed nervously.

"Well, i-it's not like we need a grief seed immediately, right? We still have a few, hahaha…"

"Y-yea. Let's go, Sayaka."

* * *

Shaken by the unnerving feeling of the barrier, we decided to spar a bit to calm our nerves down. We went to an area isolated by rubble that would prevent any normal people from seeing us fight before transforming and going all out.

"Hell yeah!" I yelled. "This is more like it!"

The exhilaration of being in a fight always got to me. I was never a very violent person when my family was still alive, but after contracting, the thrill of fighting witches always felt like so much fun. I would always actively seek out witches to fight them. The grief seeds were a huge plus, but mainly I just loved the fight. At least, that was until Homura came to Kazamino and pulled me off the streets. She made me train Sayaka, since we're "both melee fighters" even though I knew little about actually fighting with a sword. Of course, with Sayaka, I have to be careful not to go into kill-mode.

Residual magic filled the air as my spear met her sword over and over again. We continued sparring, locked in a dance of blades for at least a few hours. By the time we finished, there was a bit of murkiness in both of our Soul Gems, but not enough to be a cause for alarm. The sky was getting dark again, indicating that night was fast approaching. As we left the secluded area, I quickly realised that the amount of magic we released while fighting could have easily attracted the attention of less-than-friendly Puella Magi. Luckily, it didn't, but I'd have to be more careful about that in the future.

We spent about an hour looking around the ruined city. Surprisingly, some street lamps somehow still flickered. The city itself looked a whole lot worse than Mitakihara had, even though Walpurgis actually met resistance there. Then again, the absence of any Puella Magi in Tokyo so far likely indicated that whoever held this territory died fighting as well.

Eventually, we found ourselves in an old office building. Producing an apple from my hoodie pocket, I bit into the fruit. It was...bitter. Strange.

"Hey Sayaka, do apples go bitter? Cuz this one I'm eating right now tastes like shit."

"Bitter? No, I wouldn't imagine so."

She stared at me as if I was taking LSD. I supposed it DID sound ridiculous, a bitter apple. I shrugged and tossed the apple over my shoulder. I don't need food anyways. Blue eyes followed me as I walked back and forth between the desk cubicles in the office. Various things were knocked over; telephones, keyboards, pens, papers, and such. Then I came across one particular cubicle that was surprisingly orderly, as if it had simply decided not to be completely wrecked like its companions in the rest of the office. The pen container was still knocked over, but a picture frame still stood. I stared.

Footsteps behind me indicated that Sayaka had joined me. We both stared. The picture was of a couple, probably in their late twenties. Both of them wore a suit and tie, a clue-in that they worked in the same place. Probably this very office that we stood in. The part of the photo that really caught my attention, however, was a young girl in between the couple. She looked to be no more than nine or ten. Her glossy black hair was tied behind her head in two braids, tied at the end with light purple ribbons. Red-rimmed glasses sat on the girl's face.

"Kyōko, is it just me or does that look suspiciously like…"

"Yea. It does. Same glasses. Saw them in her house before all this."

"Shit… Why does she live alone again?"

"I wish I knew, Sayaka. I wish I knew. C'mon, let's get some sleep," I said, turning to find a spot on the carpet floor. Then, one last thought occurred to me and I couldn't resist turning back. "Hey. Hey Sayaka."

"Hmm?"

"Watch your language."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hey guys! For those of you reading that are following Eternity, expect some really slow updates. For some reason I'm having a really bad case of writer's block whenever I try working on that one. As usual, I hope you guys enjoyed this. If you did, please show your support by leaving a review. Luv y'all :P**


	3. Tokyo III: Madoka

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

We dropped our backpacks down onto the ground, coming off of the ladder. Then, suddenly, Homura tensed and grabbed my hand, pulling me close and slightly behind her.

"Homura...chan?"

"Ssshhh!"

I flinched. Homura hadn't been this serious since before Walpurgisnacht. She took out a pistol from her backpack; one of the few weapons she had left that wasn't stuck in the shield. Something had caught her attention that I hadn't noticed, and I instinctively stood behind her. She slowly stepped forward, holding the gun in front of her. Then, she stopped, six feet from the door, and called out toward it.

"Who's there? Come out of that room with your hands above your head. I have a gun."

"Don't shoot! We're coming out."

A middle-aged couple walked out of the the room. A slight gasp escaped Homura, and her arms wavered. Then, she lowered her gun. The couple stared at us, two teenagers with a gun, wide-eyed. Homura turned and stowed the pistol back in her backpack, speaking as she did so.

"Mother. Father."

Her voice held an edge of bitterness to it. The couple seemed not to notice as they lowered their arms. These were Homura's parents? Then again, she never did talk to anyone about her family.

"Homura..?" the woman said tentatively.

"Yes, mother. Don't recognise your own daughter?"

Every word Homura spat was laced with venom, something I had never seen from her in the past. She was always so calm and collected.

"We were so worried about you when we heard what happened in Mitakihara! And then the storm showed up here. Thank goodness you're okay!"

Homura gave her parents a long, hard stare. One which unsettled her father.

"You've changed," he noted.

"NO SHIT I'VE CHANGED! IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" Homura shrieked at the top of her lungs. I shrunk further behind her, alarmed at her loss of control. This was unlike the Homura I know. She gave no chance for her parents to respond.

"YOU TWO JUST DITCHED ME IN MITAKIHARA! ALL BECAUSE OF MY HEART CONDITION! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE ALONE! I NEVER EVEN MATTERED TO YOU, AS LONG AS I WAS FAR AWAY FROM YOUR WORK! YOU TWO NEVER EVEN CARED FOR ME!"

"Homura, we-"

"No," she said through clenched teeth, reining in her anger. "I don't want to hear it. You two never even called or visited when I was in the hospital, and you two sure as _shit_ didn't even call while I was living alone. What did it take for you to start caring about me? This? The destruction of the entire world?"

"Homura-chan…" I whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder. She ignored me. She has never ignored me before.

"Do you want to know who really cares about me first? Not you two. My closest friend. She saved me from committing suicide. I felt so sick of myself when you two sent me to Mitakihara. I was unwanted. Useless. I felt like trash. But she came along and helped me pick myself up."

Her mother was beginning to step backwards. Her father, on the other hand, looked angry.

"Now listen here, Homura. You can't just-"

"Did you two ever love me? At all? Can you honestly say that? I can't imagine that you two had ever put me before your precious work of running a company," Homura continued. Her voice shook a little, but she continued nonetheless. "Do you know why I've changed, _father_? Because you two forced me to. Admit it. I was never a daughter to you. Just a burden, which you tossed aside into another city to live alone. You two wanted a son to carry on your company, and I could never fill that spot. No, not me, little me with my frail body and my frail heart. Would you have even noticed I was missing if I did jump off that bridge? No? I was almost done with myself after _the first day of school_."

Homura's breath hitched, and she breathed rapidly in anger. I tried again, placing my hand on her shoulder. This time, she looked at me. I recoiled. Tears streaked down her face. For the first time I could recall, she looked upset. I gave her a small smile.

"Homura-chan… that's enough…"

She stared at into my eyes with her own. Then, she turned, swung her bag over her shoulder and climbing up the ladder. Awkwardly, I bowed apologetically to her parents, then picked up my backpack and climbed up after her. Her parents stood stock-still in the hallway.

* * *

"Wait up! Homura-chan, wait up!"

Homura hadn't waited for me to climb up after her. Instead, she had stormed off to the road on the left leaving me struggling to catch up. It didn't help that I'm shorter than her. Finally, her pace slowed and I caught up, falling into step beside her. She said nothing. The sky was dark now, and we entered the ruins of an abandoned building for the night. She took off her bag and threw it into a corner, hard. Then she took off her ring, tossing it carelessly onto a table nearby, then sank into a sitting position in a corner. The ring turned back into its regular egg-shape, and I was alarmed to see that there was more murky black than bright purple.

Taking the Soul Gem into my hand, I placed it down beside Homura. Then I went over to her backpack, placing it onto a table and digging through the contents until I found a small black sphere. I took her hand and placed the grief seed on her palm. She looked up, tears still brimming in her eyes. Then, she tossed the seed away. I shook my head.

"That's no good, Homura-chan. I get that you're angry, but you have to take care of yourself."

Her body began to shook, and fresh tears began to fall. I was at a loss. She'd never shown so much emotion before. I walked over and picked up the grief seed, pressing it against her Soul Gem. The murkiness floated over to the seed, and the gem began to shine again. I gave the Soul Gem to her. It morphed back into a ring and Homura slid it onto her finger. I wrapped her in a hug, patting her back.

"It's okay, Homura-chan. Everything's going to be alright."

"R-right," she choked back, sniffling.

I pulled back from the hug, shifting so I could sit down next to her. The night passed slowly, with long hours dragging out. At some point in the night, she fell asleep against my shoulder. I found myself unable to sleep. For the first time since Mitakihara, I felt warm. I looked down at her face. She puts so much burden on herself…

When morning rolled around, I was awoken to Homura shaking me lightly. Her mask was back on. We packed up our stuff in silence, but then before we left the building, Homura turned to face me. She was smiling at me.

"Thank you, Madoka."

Then we set out. At first, I wondered if Homura would go back to her parents but she turned the opposite way. We spent a few hours scavenging what we could from some stores. It felt wrong, but I guess money has no value when everything's in chaos. As we searched through an abandoned convenience store, Homura broke the silence.

"The magic is gone. I don't know if they're nearby, but they're not fighting anymore. Still, we should get away from here quickly."

"What about your parents?" I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. "What about them?"

"You're just going to leave without saying goodbye? I get that you're angry, but still...they're your parents…"

"Madoka… I'm a Puella Magi. I'm not human anymore, and I gave up any human ties I had when I made the contract. They were my parents, but I'm not their daughter."

"But…"

I trailed off. I couldn't force Homura to do anything she didn't want to. I decided to relent.

"Okay then. Where are we going next?"

"We have all the time in the world now. It's not like anywhere we go will be any different. Ironic that I can say that about time when I don't have my shield. You choose."

She grimaced as she reminded herself of the loss of her power. I thought about it. Not many ideas came, but…

"What about Kyoto? It's kind of late to be seeing places since everything's gone, but… I always did want to see it when I was older."

"Kyoto it is, then," she replied.

* * *

The night was bitterly cold. I shivered, even with a second jacket on. Homura had given me hers, saying she could use magic to block out the cold. I hope she wasn't lying about that, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. We managed to find more supplies before leaving Tokyo. I made her eat with me, telling her she couldn't just stop eating forever. Despite what she said, she was still a human too.

Unable to sleep, I got up off the dying grass and sat next to Homura, who was staring at the cloudy sky. If she noticed me, she said nothing. I looked up at the sky with her. Nearly a month, and not once had the sky been clear since that day. In a way, it made sense. Nothing would ever be the same, so why would the sky go back to the way it was before?

"Do you think we'll ever see the blue sky again?" Homura asked, as if she heard my thoughts. The question itself was uncharacteristic of her.

"Do you want me to be honest?" I said. She nodded. "No. Not really. Everything's changed. No one was ready for this, I don't think. If anything, it's a new dark age. Walpurgis is still out there somewhere, right?"

She sighed. "Yeah."

We weren't that far from Tokyo, actually. Maybe a three hour walk? I don't know. Faint tear tracks were still visible on Homura's face, and I felt bad. I missed my family, but I hadn't even thought that Homura might be hurting inside too.

"How many people do you think survived Walpurgis?"

"Close to none. I've fought it countless times, and it's never been this powerful," she said. She didn't bother looking at me when I asked. It was as if she was searching for something in the sky, something only she could see.

"Say, Madoka. What do you think of me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've done...terrible things. I've killed other Puella Magi before. I've left people to die to witches. Aren't you...disgusted with me?"

I shook my head.

"Someone once told me that the only ones who can judge Puella Magi are other Puella Magi. I don't understand a lot of things you do, but I'm sure you had your reasons."

"I see…Sorry. That was probably too sudden. You've only known me for two months now."

I said nothing. I knew what she meant with that last statement. For some reason, she liked me. I don't understand what she sees in me, but then again, she's met me several times. The question was, how did I feel about her? What do I say when she finally approached the topic?

We spent the next few hours staring up at the sky in silence. Not a single star was to be found. I wondered if people would ever recover from this, and if I would be around to see it. Somehow, I doubted that. Maybe Homura and I would just spend the rest of our lives wandering together. That didn't sound too bad, given the situation we were in. Then again, she needed grief seeds. The ones she carries now won't last forever, and she can't fight anymore. It must be hard for her.

A flash of purple light broke me out of my thoughts. Homura was standing in front of me, transformed. The shield was noticeably missing from her arm.

"Puella Magi. Close by. Two of them. Stay behind me."

"Homura-chan, your shield…"

"I _know_. I can't fight, but I will if I have to."

A minute passed, then two. Nothing happened. Then three. Homura continued to look around. Four. Five.

Finally, she relaxed and sat back down, reverting to her regular clothes with another flash of purple light.

"They're gone. I guess they weren't the type to pick a fight."

Morning came too soon after that, and the two of us began walking toward Kyoto again. I hoped that we wouldn't run into trouble along the way.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I LIED ABOUT THE TWO WEEKS AHAHAHHA. Just kidding, not really. I just felt really inspired for this chapter and the next, so I wrote them early. Hope you guys enjoy!**


	4. Tokyo IV: Sayaka

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

"There's a Puella Magi nearby."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Kyōko said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

We had just emerged from a witch barrier just outside Tokyo. Well, just outside Tokyo would be stretching it. I guess regular humans would not consider it so, but for us it was a short distance. The moment we exited the barrier, a pulse of magic came from the west. Approximately a kilometre away, a distance we could easily close in about a minute. Kyōko looked at me pleadingly. I sighed.

"No, we are not going to pick a fight with her unless she attacks us first."

"But Sayakaaaaa…" she pouted. "I wanna fight."

"No. What do you mean you want to fight? We just fought a witch!"

"Yea, but that's not the same. I wanna beat someone up."

Her fangs showed as she said this, and I wondered why she even listened to me. The redhead is like a savage sometimes. Does her sadism have no bounds?

"No. Absolutely not."

She made a face at me, then rested her spear on her shoulder.

"Fine. Let's go back to the city then. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

It was true. I'll never understand how Kyōko is always eating something. Sometimes I don't even understand where she got the stuff she's eating. Yesterday, I looked in her backpack. It was filled with nothing but grief seeds and boxes of Pocky. Not even a bottle of water. Well, she did add a photo frame to her bag. It was the picture we had found in that office. She wanted to bring it back to Homura if we ever ran into her again. For whatever reason, Kyōko seemed to understand the mysterious black-haired girl more than I did.

It had been a little over a day since we reached Tokyo. We decided to stick around, since there were so many witches around. There was also the matter of that one dark barrier that unnerved me and Kyōko. If only Homura was with us, then we might've gone ahead. Much as I hated to admit it, that stoic Magi knew way more than either of us.

Surprisingly, there were still pockets of people around the city, though none of them were very open. Kyōko and I were holed up in an abandoned building, though not the office we had went into before. Immediately after we entered that building where we left our bags, Kyōko had a package of Pocky in her hand. She grinned as I looked at her in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Want one?" she asked, extending the box towards me. I took one.

"Really?" I asked again.

"Yep. Hey, can't I enjoy _something_ at least? You didn't even let me go after that other Puella Magi earlier."

I decided it wasn't even worth the effort to respond to that. Biting the stick of Pocky, I walked over to my own backpack. It was propped up beside a wooden door. As I bent over to take out some water, I noticed that the corner was glimmering. There wasn't enough light to see what it was, so I stepped closer.

Next thing I knew, something round under my foot rolled as I stepped on it, sending my crashing to the ground. Red light filled the room. Kyōko had her spear out instantly, ready to attack.

"Jeez, calm down, Kyōko. I just tripped."

She looked down at me, sprawled out on the floor, then snickered. Another flash of red light.

"Ahahahahaha you're such a klutz!"

"Oh shut it."

Standing back up, I noticed the object I had tripped on. It was a small black sphere with a metal casing and two needle-like protrusions on either side. A grief seed. A used one. Another Puella Magi has been here.

"Oi, Kyōko. There's a used grief seed here."

"Great. Leave it. I wanna kill it again."

I sighed. Where was Kyuubei when I actually want him around? A pressure on my shoulder caught my attention. Speak of the devil. He stared at the grief seed.

"Do you want that?" the little white devil asked.

I didn't answer him, instead just tossing the seed to him. He seemed to always be around when there were used grief seeds, but that was it. I remembered what that thing did to us, with the Soul Gems and all. He caught the seed with an open pouch on his back, then tilted his head.

"Hmmm… interesting."

"What?" I said, more hostile than I had intended.

"The seed has Akemi Homura's magical signature on it. She was the last one to use it. It feels more or less a day old."

"Wha-"

He was gone. A loud ruckus brought my attention back to Kyōko, who was in the process of slinging her bag over her shoulder. She made for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Didn't you hear him? Homura's nearby. We should go find her. It might've been the one we sensed outside Tokyo earlier."

I didn't move.

"Settle down. She's probably long gone by now. You know how she is."

I was answered with the slamming of a door. What a hothead. Picking up my bag, I followed her out the door.

* * *

"Hey! You're not going to find her by rushing off!"

I would probably make more progress talking to an acorn. Kyōko had rushed off back in the direction where we had sensed the Puella Magi hours before. It didn't help that Kyōko was both faster and stronger than me, meaning that if she didn't stop or slow down soon, I won't be able to catch up. What a pain. We ran and ran and ran. On and on, further from the city. We ran for hours. The sky began to light up, and even though we couldn't see it through the thick layers of clouds, the sun shone through somehow.

Then, we picked up a magical signature in the distance. Then two. Then three. One of them was flickering, like it was a candle flame and someone was blowing on it lightly. There was a fight going on. My breath was hitching at this point, but Kyōko showed no signs of slowing down so I forced myself to continue. Someone was losing that fight, as one of the presences flickered faster and faster. A flash of red light forced me to look away for a moment. I followed suit with a flash of blue light, not missing a beat as a sword appeared in my hand.

The sounds of a conflict were clear in the air now. Mostly, it was the sound of metal meeting flesh. Strangely, there was no gunfire, meaning that it likely wasn't Homura. Still, we were this close, so we may as well check it out. I doubt I can hold Kyōko back from a fight this late now anyway. Four figures could be seen in the distance, just on the horizon. I estimated three minutes before we reached the battle.

"Kyōko! Slow down. Save some strength. We might need it if we have to enter the fight."

She complied, slowing down and falling into line beside me. We continued at a slight jog towards the magical presences. Up ahead, three figures could be seen fighting. Or more accurately, two figures could be seen relentlessly attacking a third. A fourth one stood several metres away from the fighting. We closed the distance as inconspicuously as possible. When we were about a hundred metres away, we stopped. I didn't really know why, but we did. Then, Kyōko tapped my shoulder.

"Sayaka, isn't that pinkie over there? The short one?"

She was right. The fourth figure, standing far from the battle, was Madoka. That meant that Homura was currently fighting. So why was there no gunfire? I don't recall the stoic Magi ever using anything other than guns that she pulled out from her shield. The redhead beside me answered that question, swearing out loud all of a sudden.

"Shit! Sayaka! Homura's getting her ass handed to her!"

Before I could even process the words, Kyōko had charged. On pure instinct, I charged after her. By the time I reached the fight, Kyōko had already engaged both of the other Puella Magi and was pushing them back viciously. The two she was fighting looked identical; twins maybe? Both of them wielded swords, but Kyōko appeared to be more than a match for both of them. She was fighting to kill. The hothead could handle herself. Right now, I needed to check on Madoka and Homura.

The purple-clad Magi stood in the middle of the field, as if slowly waking up from a trance to realise she was not being attacked anymore. Blood flowed freely from dozens of wounds all over her body. She collapsed, and despite my reservations about trusting her, I rushed over to her side. Madoka beat me to it, catching the taller girl before she hit the ground and slowly lowering her. I knelt by Homura's prone form. She was still conscious, but the amethyst on her hand showed no signs of its usual violet colour. Madoka was shaking her, trying to get a response.

"Madoka, stop. You're hurting her, and she needs a grief seed."

Pink eyes looked up into my own blue ones. She appeared to not recognise me, or at least not process that it was me. Perhaps she thought me dead?

Taking out a grief seed from my pocket, I went to press it against the Soul Gem, but a cold hand grabbed my own and stopped me.

"No…" the girl lying on the ground whispered weakly at me.

"What do you mean, no? Do you even seen yourself right now? What you look like?"

"Don't waste it on me… I'm weak… Useless…"

She turned to face me as she spoke. If the situation wasn't so serious, I might've been able to spare the thought to be shocked. The purple-clad Magi that always seemed invincible had tears running down her face. I pinched my cheek to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Homura was crying? She had never even shown any emotion as far as I was concerned, and now she was _crying_?

"Akemi-san? This isn't like you… Whatever, just shut up and let me cleanse your Soul Gem, then we can talk. This isn't the time for pride. Oi!"

She refused to let go of my hand, refused to let me save her. I threw up my free hand in surrender and met Madoka's eyes again.

"Madoka, you do it. She's delirious or something, but she'll probably let you do it."

"O-okay…Th-there are grief seeds in her bag."

By this point, Kyōko had returned, having chased off the attackers. She knelt down beside me, face scrunched in concern. Was she friends with Homura? Honestly, I never bothered to ask her that. Madoka had went to get a grief seed from her own bag, since Homura refused to let go of my hand. Stubborn.

Homura finally dispelled her Magi attire. Or maybe she just didn't have the strength to keep it up. The egg-shaped Soul Gem dropped to the grass beside her, and she relaxed everything, looking up at the sky. Her eyes held something I couldn't figure out. Madoka returned with another grief seed.

Just as she went to press it against the purple gem, the sound of shattering glass filled the air.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **If I'm completely honest, I found it harder to write in the perspective of Madoka in the previous chapter and Sayaka in this chapter. Regardless, I'm going to try and alternate in a Homura-Kyōko-Madoka-Sayaka pattern in terms of POV for each chapter so next chapter is back to Homura. Hope you guys enjoyed reading; please leave reviews :D**

 **EDIT (28/02/2017): Chapter 5 taken down. It'll come back later in the story as a later chapter, but there'll be something else to take its place instead.**


	5. Tokyo V: Homura

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

Pain racked my body with each slash. The two hostile Puella Magi had attacked us as we walked in the direction of Kyoto. Both of them had swords. Their Soul Gems shone bright green and bright orange. I barely had time to transform before the first sword struck, sending me reeling backwards. With each cut, I could feel myself weakening but I forced myself to stay standing. I would not let them near Madoka. One of them swung for my neck. Lifting my hands, I stopped the sword mid-swing and the blade sunk into my hands. The other darted in and stabbed me, kicking me off of the blade afterward. The flurry of blows continued. Would I die here?

Then, it stopped. Why did they stop? Was it to let the pain sink in? Were they mocking me? I staggered to the side, rivulets of blood flowing out of various wounds all over my body. The world looked blurry. Somewhere in the distance, I heard metal ringing against metal. The ground rushed up to meet me, and I prepared to flinch at the impact of collapsing. But I didn't. Soft hands broke my fall, and I felt myself slowly being lowered to lying down position.

Madoka had caught me.

Even as a regular girl, she had protected me.

Tears brimmed in my eyes.

This wasn't right. I was supposed to be the one protecting Madoka.

I could feel a sheen of darkness appear in my Soul Gem. I looked up and found the azure eyes of Miki Sayaka staring down at me. Her lips moved, but I heard nothing save for the rush of blood in my head. Her hand moved. In it rested a grief seed. I mustered the last of my strength and gripped her hand, pushing it away.

"No…" I croaked. "Don't waste it on me…"

My voice continued to speak of its own accord. I had no control.

I deserve no salvation. Let it end here. I'm useless. Worthless. I don't deserve to even be in Madoka's presence. I can't even protect her after all she's done for me. In the corner of my eye, I see Madoka run away. Am I about to turn? I hoped it wouldn't hurt. The pink-haired girl reappeared. She reached for my Soul Gem.

Shattering. The cacophony of shattering glass filled my ears, causing my head to throb. I wanted to scream. The noise. It was too loud. Voices came rushing to me again. I tried to recognise each voice through the sound of glass ringing in my head.

"You ….you're so sneaky.…"

"...rry up, Madoka! Use the ….seed!"

"Homura-chan...st...with me!"

Suddenly, the air filled with the acrid smell of blood. I could see a spray of red at the periphery of my vision. A grief seed pressed against my Soul Gem. I turned my head weakly. Kyōko held a girl by the neck, her spear impaled on the limp form in her grasp. A body lay by the redhead's feet, surrounded by shards of green glass. I began to see double, and the world spun. I rolled over, retching. A metallic taste filled my mouth as my saliva came out pink and red. A _thump_ sounded, the sound of a body hitting the floor. Everything quieted down. I rolled back to face the sky. The sound of shattering glass filled the air again, but this time it was muffled.

Was I dying? I didn't know. Did I want to? Yes. No. I don't know.

Just die. _I can't die yet._ You're worthless. _That's not true._ Yes, it is. _No, it's not. Madoka needs me._ Who the hell would need someone weak like you? _I… I…But Madoka… Kyoto…_ Pathetic. You're nothing.

My thoughts drifted off. Rain pattered down from the clouds above.

The world faded to black.

* * *

A bland white ceiling stared back at me as I opened my eyes.

.

.

.

White ceiling? The hospital?! I sat up violently, causing my vision to darken and my head to spin. I could hear voices. Where was I…?

I looked around the room. Four backpacks lay in a corner. One of them was knocked over sideways, a box of Pocky half-exposed from the bag. A small wooden table rested about two feet from where I sat. I was on a couch. It wasn't the hospital, and I was not in a new time loop. Where was I? What was I doing?

I stood, taking an unsteady step before I fell again, landing on the table with a loud crash. My memory was fuzzy. I remembered...rain...blood… That's right…. We were attacked by two Puella Magi...

"Homura-chan!"

Madoka's voice. In an instant, the pinkette was beside me, helping me to my feet. Two sets of footsteps entered the room and I found myself in the presence of Kyōko and Sayaka.

"Wh-where are we? How did you two find us?" I asked. The stutter in my voice was painfully evident.

"We're in Tokyo, Homura. Your parents' place. Madoka took us here," Kyōko said, taking a bite out of an apple. "You left a grief seed in some building here and Kyuubei said you were the last one to use it. We had sensed you outside Tokyo before that but we didn't think too much of it."

My head hurt.

"So...was it you two that I sensed outside Tokyo before and not the two who attacked? What happened to those two?"

"I killed them," Kyōko responded nonchalantly, as if she were simply discussing the weather. Before I could say anything else, Madoka tackled me in a hug, nearly knocking me off my feet. I was still unsteady.

"Homura-chan! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Stuck in a hug with my head awkwardly looking past Madoka's shoulder, I could see Kyōko holding in laughter. I gave her a death glare, but I could feel heat building in my cheeks anyway. After a few seconds, I was released and I turned to Sayaka and Kyōko.

"Madoka and I are headed for Kyoto. Will you come with us?"

"Kyoto? What for?" Sayaka spoke up.

I shrugged. We had no reason, really, beyond that Madoka wanted to go there. Madoka tugged on my sleeve.

"Homura-chan, we should let Kyōko-chan and Sayaka-chan talk about it. Let's go see your parents. They wanted to talk to you."

"No," I said. I refused to see so-called "parents" who didn't even care about me.

Madoka simply looked at me with those round pink eyes of hers. Damn it. Did she even know what she could do to me if she wanted? I figured she did, actually. I sighed.

"Fine."

I walked beside Madoka out of the room, leaning on her for support as I still had trouble walking. As the door closed, I could hear the two Magi whispering to each other. We entered a bedroom a bit further down the hallway. Both of my parents sat on chairs in there, staring at me. Well, glaring would be a more accurate word for what my father was doing. We stopped, and I pressed my hand against the wall to keep steady, instead of pushing all of my weight against Madoka. I didn't notice it, but the short distance it took to walk to this room had me breathless. Small cuts could still be seen on my face and hands, but I ignored them. I stared at my parents.

"I'm told you two wanted to talk to me. So talk. After that, I'm leaving," I say, as harshly as I can. My voice catches in the middle, and it sounds dry and hoarse, but I supposed that was natural after getting cut up so badly. We stood in silence for several minutes. Then, my mother spoke.

* * *

"Homura, there's a safe place being set up in America. You should come with us. I know you're angry, but we can survive there."

The words my mother spouted barely registered in my head. I tuned out the rest of her speech, then sucked in a breath. My parents looked at me expectantly.

"No. I refuse. And even if I said yes, we have no way of getting there. Is that all you have to say?"

"Our friends by the coast survived. They have a boat. It can't get us all the way, but it can get us to Australia. Apparently there's an airport that survived there," my mother replied. I sighed in exasperation.

"You don't get it, do you? I _hate_ you. You think you can abandon me in Mitakihara, then ask me to leave with you just because you heard some rumour? If I hadn't made it clear enough before, let me get it through your thick skull. I'm done wit-"

My head jerked to the right, slamming into the wall. Stars appeared in my eyes, and my knees gave out. Madoka screamed. I could feel something wet running down the side of my head as Madoka rushed to my side, placing her hands on me to help me up.

My father stood, arm still extended, palm still outstretched. He had slapped me. He inhaled and exhaled viciously, eyes holding a fire that I once would have feared, had I still been the same snivelling girl they had left in Mitakihara.

"Show your mother some respect, Homura! Who do you think you're talking to? Who do you think raised you for fourteen years?"

Anger welled inside me in response. I stood up slowly and looked into his eyes, half my face covered in blood. Fury the likes of which I had never felt, not even when insulted by Miki Sayaka, showed in my eyes. Madoka backed off in terror.

"Homura-chan, don't-"

None of Madoka's words clicked with me. I screamed. Grabbing my father's still outstretched arm, I pulled him close and punched him as hard as I could. He flew clear across the room, landing in a heap, out cold thanks to my above-human strength. This time, it was my mother's turn to scream.

The door burst open, and Kyōko and Sayaka were in.

"I SAID NO! GO TO AMERICA IF YOU WANT! I'M NOT GOING WITH YOU! JUST GO! GO AND STAY FAR AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed anything and everything that my mind could process in its sluggish state.

"Akemi-san…?"

"Homura?"

The sounds of Sayaka and Kyōko's voices brought me back to some semblance of reality. I blinked, then stumbled out of the room. No one followed. Not even Madoka. Tears stung my eyes. I felt disgusted with myself. I'm a monster.

...perhaps I should start acting like one.

A twisted grin made it onto my face as I grabbed my bag, unzipping it and taking out one of my very last pistols. Checking that it was loaded, I climbed up the ladder, pausing only briefly when a spell of dizziness struck. Then, I was out of the basement. The rain was still falling.

I looked around. What a stroke of luck. Tokyo was in ruins, but it was far from abandoned. Two people stood on the sidewalk about ten metres away, back turned. I began laughing. I barely sounded human to myself.

Because I wasn't.

I fired. One fell, the other looked confused.

I fired again. The second fell too, and I started to double over in laughter.

Was I going insane? I didn't know. But that certainly felt good. I was still shaking from laughter, but I managed to straighten up. The blood on the side of my face felt slick, mixing with the rain. Some of it flowed into my mouth. It tasted of salt and copper. Disgusting.

Adjusting my backpack, I set off on a walk to find more targets. I felt something akin a splinter in my mind, something inherently wrong with my thoughts. What was it? I didn't know. Why was I here? I didn't know. All I knew was that I needed more people who weren't Madoka.

Somewhere, a still-rational part of me hoped Madoka would not find out what I was doing right now.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hey there... I'll just leave this here... :D**


	6. Tokyo VI: Kyōko

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

I had never seen Homura lose control like that. Even when we faced Walpurgisnacht, she seemed to be in control. A huge freaking witch in the sky she can be calm about, but two adults she has bad history with is enough to set her off? Okay then. It had been hours since she had stormed outside and I debated going after her at this point.

"Don't. She'll be back," Sayaka said, reading my mind.

She was right. I hated when she was right. By the time Homura came back, she was thoroughly soaked. Rain dripped out of her long black hair. I was waiting at the base of the ladder.

"Hey."

She looked at me, dazed, as if she wasn't sure if I had just talked to her.

"Hi," she said after a pause. "Have you and Sayaka made your choice?"

"Why are you going to Kyoto though?"

"Madoka wants to go there."

...Okay, so Sayaka may have been right when she said Homura had an unhealthy obsession with the pinkette. Still, that was irrelevant. Sayaka wanted to go with Madoka as well, and I don't really have anyplace else.

"Sure. We'll go."

My eyes caught something.

"Can we talk in private? _Outside_?" I asked, catching a glimpse of Sayaka in the corner of my eye.

Homura looked confused, but wordlessly climbed the ladder again. I made a _shoo_ ing gesture towards Sayaka, then climbed after her. The rain was absolutely pouring, as if determined to wash away the destruction of the world.

"Homura, why is there blood on your shirt? It wasn't there before."

"It… It's nothing. It's nothing…" she muttered. I got the impression she was trying to convince herself more than me.

"That's bullshit, Homura. What did you do?"

"I told you, nothing. I took a walk, that's all."

I just stared at her. She didn't meet my eyes, instead choosing to stare at the ground next to me. She was lying. That, or she found something on the ground more interesting than me. I grabbed her hand and pulled her further into the city.

"You're lying, Homura. What did you do? This isn't like you at all."

"I SHOT PEOPLE, OKAY?!"

She...wait, what? I barely had enough time to process that statement before she knelt, clutching her head. Her voice lowered to a whisper, and I had to crouch down to hear her through the pattering of the rain.

"I'm so weak… I can't even protect Madoka…"

The black-haired girl in front of me no longer resembled the Homura I had been friends with in Mitakihara before Walpurgis. She took out an object from the main pocket of her backpack. It was her shield; the one that allowed her to stop time. The metal was warped and cracked in several places.

"I'm nothing without this. I'm useless now."

"So you went and shot people? What's gotten into you? How many did you-?"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!"

I flinched. Somehow, even without freezing time, a pistol appeared in her hand out of nowhere. She stood, pointing it at me.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE POWERLESS!"

Her arm shook.

"Homura…"

"YOU. DON'T. KNOW. ANYTHING!"

"Homura, don't do something you're gonna regret…"

Whatever had happened, Homura clearly was a bit unstable. I was at a loss as to what to do. At this point, she was basically hyperventilating. I reached toward her, but she gripped the gun harder. A crazed light adorned her usually-dull eyes. She appeared to not even recognise who I was.

"Calm down, Homura. I'm your friend, yea? Recognise me?"

Silence. Her hair covered her eyes, and I could not see them anymore. I took a tentative step forward. Silence. Another step. Nothing. I reached over and gently eased the gun out of her hand. No reaction. I patted her shoulder.

"Everything's going to be alright. Come on, let's go back. We can spend the night here, then head out. I won't tell anyone what you did, alright? Just relax."

She didn't move, but didn't resist when I put my arm around her shoulder and guided her back towards the basement trapdoor. As we approached the door, she whispered quietly.

"Six…"

Well then… an unstable Homura…. that was a first if I've ever seen one.

* * *

Tokyo lay far behind us as we began heading west for Kyoto. Homura had refused to say goodbye to her parents, and even refused to clean off the dried blood on the right side of her face.

"A reminder of who my parents really are," she had said by way of explanation.

I personally think she holds too deep a grudge but hey, who am I to judge her? IT was deep enough of a grudge to refuse to remove that blood even when Madoka asked her. _Madoka_ asked and she had refused. Now that was an interesting development. As far as I was concerned, Homura would do anything pinkie asked her to do. Apparently not.

We had decided to head to Nagoya first, a little over halfway to Kyoto. None of us had ever been to Nagoya. As a matter of fact, the most well-travelled out of our group would be Homura, who has gone between Tokyo and Mitakihara. Currently, we sat out in the middle of nowhere, Sayaka and Homura arguing about which path to take. The two were hunched over a map. Meanwhile, I was trying to start a conversation with pinkie, but she wasn't having any of it. I noticed that she wasn't the bright and cheerful girl she had been in the days leading up to Walpurgis.

The voices in the background grew louder, indicating a rise in frustration between the two. I prayed Homura wouldn't shoot Sayaka too. I would prefer not to have to take a side between those two.

"Hey, Kyōko-chan."

"Hmm?" I asked. I had just been about to give up trying to get a conversation going, but now pinkie was the one starting one. Whatever suits her, I guess. Before the pinkette beside me could say anything further, however, Homura and Sayaka walked back over to us. I looked up at them. Pinkie didn't.

"Yo, what's up, you two? Finally done chewing each other out?"

Homura chose to ignore my comment. She instead threw a glare towards the blunette beside her.

"Change of plans. We can probably make it all the way to Kyoto without stopping in Nagoya, assuming nothing goes wrong along the way. We have a few hours of daylight left. Let's keep going."

So we walked. And walked. And walked. No one said anything as we walked. There was no conversation, no noise besides the crunch of dirt beneath our feet. We were all focused on watching our surroundings for potential threats. A few cars lay abandoned on a nearby road, but we stayed away from those. It's been a little over three weeks, maybe four, since Walpurgisnacht appeared. I was beginning to lose track of time. "Assuming nothing goes wrong" was a very dangerous assumption to make. Something always goes wrong.

Nightfall came. We were out in the middle of nowhere still, with only a few distant roads to be seen. No lights, just utter darkness. We did find a decently-sized tree to go under, but since it wasn't raining for once, the tree didn't matter as much. Somehow, Madoka managed to sleep almost instantly, something I found interesting since she had a perfectly sheltered life before this. Sayaka was just lazy as usual, so she had no trouble sleeping. I sat, leaning against the tree and eating Pocky to keep myself awake. Falling asleep while on watch with only Sayaka was one thing. I didn't dare do that with Homura, especially when it involved pinkie's safety. Nope. Ain't gonna take any risks.

Around three hours into my watch, I heard a noise coming from where we had left our backpacks.

 _Click. Click. Click._

I hadn't noticed Homura getting up from her spot. She now sat with an open backpack. Four pistols lay in front of her, disassembled. She was fiddling with some parts, or something. Using her Soul Gem as a light source, she picked up each part and examined it. I got up, stepping over the sleeping blue-haired justice maniac, and sat down next to her.

"Oi, what're you doing? Shouldn't you get some sleep?"

"Checking how much ammunition I have left. I'll need these if we have to fight."

The monotone cover of Homura was back, masking any emotion she was feeling. No sign of the unstable girl I had seen earlier was present. Speaking to her here did remind me of something, though. Wordlessly, I grabbed my bag and opened it, pulling out a picture frame; the one Sayaka and I had found in that office building back in Tokyo. I handed it to her. She took it, staring at the picture in the frame.

"Here," I said. "Sayaka and I found it in an office in Tokyo. Thought you might want it."

She gripped it harder, to the point where her hands were shaking slightly. Her knuckles went white. I contemplated if this was the point at which I should start distancing myself, but then she said one single word.

"Thanks," she whispered, then stowed the picture and her pistols and lay down to sleep.

I went to wake Sayaka up to take over the watch for the night.

* * *

The sky was pitch-black when I woke. For that matter, everything was pitch-black. Something didn't feel right. Something unnerved me. Something familiar. I took out my Soul Gem. It was blinking extremely fast, indicating a witch. The light from my gem did nothing to pierce the darkness. Trying to wake myself up as best I could, I transformed and felt the comforting weight of my spear appear in my hand. I could not see a single thing. The darkness was actually so dark I was convinced I couldn't even see all of the darkness, if that made any sense.

I remembered. I remember this barrier from Tokyo. The very same one that had given me and Sayaka bad vibes when we entered it. And now I was alone.

"Sayaka?" I called out. "Homura? Madoka?"

No response. I was alone. A _whoosh_ passed by my left ear, prompting me to spin and point my spear in that general direction. I couldn't even see my spear. Minutes passed in silence. I didn't like this at all. I can't kill something I can't see, at least not without help. I slowly turned in a circle. Not a single bit of light could be found. Very few options remained. I could stay where I was, which wasn't very encouraging. I could try going somewhere and hope I can get to place where I can see. The downside to that one was that that's probably not how the barrier works.

I groaned.

I was stuck.

I hated to admit it, but I was stuck.

Then, I heard it. It was faint, but I could hear a voice just barely.

"Homura-chan? Sayaka-chan? Kyōko-chan?"

It belonged to Madoka. I ran towards the direction of the voice, yelling out.

"Oi! Pinkie! Over here!"

No response. No voice to be heard anymore, either.

"Well, isn't this just dandy?" I mutter sarcastically to myself. I couldn't even tell what time it was, but it wouldn't be like Homura to let a witch get the jump on us if she were the one on watch. When I get out of here, I'm giving Sayaka a piece of my mind. _If_ I got out of here, that was. Suddenly, laughter filled the otherwise eerily silent barrier. I spun, bringing my spear up to block a strike I barely sensed in time. The blow sent me sliding back several metres.

I scanned the area futilely for whatever had attacked. No use. I couldn't see. Something struck me on the back of the head. I crumpled to the ground.

That was the last thing I knew.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Woot! First chapter that I've written since being burnt out from my university classes! Sorry if it seems kinda rushed, I had written about half of it while stressing out from classes, though I did change up the chapter just before posting :P**

 **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 **Hope you enjoyed! :3**


	7. Sands I: Madoka

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

The sand whipped in the wind, forcing me to breathe through my sleeve. The last thing I had remembered was going to sleep under that withered old tree outside Tokyo. Now, all I saw around me were sand dunes and vast nothingness. I was alone.

"Homura-chan?" I called out. "Sayaka-chan? Kyōko-chan?"

It was a futile effort. I saw no-one in any direction. The gusts of wind blew harder, forcing me to cover my eyes. Where was I? There was only one explanation. This was a witch's barrier, even though it looked normal. Too normal. But then, where was everyone else? Were they all separated as well? I hope none of them got caught by the witch.

I begin to walk, shouldering my backpack. My steps kick up sand, adding it to the ever-swirling sandstorm around me. An oddity about the place strikes me. The desert is not scorching like it should be. I bend down, running my hand through the soft sand. It does not burn. It was pleasantly cool, spilling through my fingers as I lift up a handful. I continue walking. I walk. An hour passes. I walk. Two hours pass. I walk. I lose track of time. At some point, I stumble upon a small rock cluster, with just enough space for me to squeeze in and avoid the whipping sand.

My backpack feels heavier than I remember. I take this opportunity to check on what I have with me, emptying the contents onto the ground. A handkerchief, a small multi-tool (Homura's insistence), a bottle of water, some cans of food. My face finds itself in my hands. I was in a lot of trouble. Do I stay put and wait for the others to find me? Do I try to look for them?

A faint voice pushes through the howling of the wind. It sounded a lot like Kyōko.

"...Pinkie!...ver….here!"

I scramble to shove everything back in my bag and climb out of the little cave. The voice had came from my right, and I turned. Nothing. There was nothing but sand to be seen. Still, maybe I could shout back? Maybe she would hear me and come towards me.

"Kyōko-chan! Can you hear me?" I call. My voice is piteously tiny compared to the vicious sandstorm. No answer. My voice shrinks. "Kyōko-chan?"

Perhaps it was my imagination. I return to the alcove. An idea pops up in my head. I quickly search my backpack, pulling out my handkerchief and the multi-tool. After untying my hair ribbons, I cut two small holes in the handkerchief and thread my ribbons through it, tying the ribbons around my ears so that the cloth is covering my nose and mouth. I tug it a little to make sure it won't fall off easily before stepping back out into the desert. The wind is harsher than before. Sand coats my hair, getting caught deep in the strands.

Hours have passed since I woke up. The sun was still high in the sky. Plenty of daylight for me to keep moving. My hair is now hanging freely, moving with the wind. I take a step forward. The wind blows harder against me. I struggle to take another step. Sand gets into my left eye. Instantly, tears spill out of my eyes, attempting to expel the invasive particles. My throat is parched; I forgot to drink water while I was still in the cover of the rocks. Through all of this, only one thought occupies my mind.

'I have to find Homura-chan…'

* * *

About an hour later, laughing filled the desert. The sun was setting, still visible over the horizon. I looked around. Coming from all directions was laughter, but it wasn't the laughter of children. It was an eerie kind of laughter, one which brought a chill to my spine. I hear a _clang_ of metal beside me, followed by silence. Then, the sound of blunt metal hitting flesh sounded, followed by a _thud_ on the ground. I had no idea what that meant. Nothing good could come of it, though. Nothing good ever came from witch barriers. The laughter stopped.

The sandstorm had subsided, leaving grains of sand stuck to my hair. I kept the makeshift face mask on just in case, only taking it off once to drink some water. The sky was a soft orange, with some deep blue of the nighttime to the east. Something was off. Every barrier I've been in, which is very few because Homura always prevents me, has had familiars. I've encountered none so far. Not that I'm complaining. I find another rock formation, this one shaped like an arch. Plopping my bag down and using it as a pillow, I decide to sleep. Before I do so, I move the multitool from the bag to my pocket. It's not much, but the small knife on it is at least something if I run into trouble.

The desert is calm. No wind. No movement. Just silence and stillness. The cold was bitter, and my jacket did little to keep me warm. The sky is still bright to the west as the sun continued setting. Things were changing too fast. The sand was uncomfortable. Unable to shift into a better position, I sit up and search through my bag again. I don't know why. It was more to keep me occupied than anything, I guess. After a while, I lie down again. I toss and turn. I sigh. Minutes tick by slowly, and hours feel agonizingly long.

Sometime in those hours, I got up and continued my aimless walking. I have to find the others. I have to find the others. I have to find… the others… I… I… was no longer in a desert? The sand was gone, vanished like ghosts. In its place were tall trees, grass, and rivers. It was now a forest. Looking around, I could see a pillar of smoke in the distance. A fire. Maybe one of the others was there.

My breath hitches as I run. I stumble a few times, tripping on rocks, on vines, on roots. The smoke gets closer. Branches snap as I step on them, creating a loud cracking noise which rings through the forest. As I run, I take off my makeshift face mask that I had made in the desert. The smoke gets closer. Closer. I could see a small clearing ahead. I slow my pace down to a walk, catching my breath. The clearing was right in front of me now, just behind a few trees.

A loud snap rings beneath my feet. A flash of light blinds me, and I look away. In an instant, a blue figure is in front of me, holding a sword. It was Sayaka.

"Sayaka-chan!"

"Madoka?"

She looked dazed. We stare at each other for a moment. Then, wordlessly, we sit down by the fire she had made. She speaks first.

"So...you haven't seen Kyōko or the transfer student?"

"No. I was in a desert."

"A desert? I've seen nothing by forests. How did you get here?"

"I walked. The desert just vanished and I found myself here."

We fell into silence again, and I took the opportunity to look around. A river could be seen not too far from the clearing. Several of Sayaka's swords were arranged around the fire to hold up one of the swords hanging above the fire. On the sword were fish. She noticed me staring.

"I caught some from the river earlier. Kyōko had all our food in her bag before we met up with you and transfer student outside Tokyo. Want some?"

I nod. She takes the sabre off the fire, then in another flash of light, creates more swords to make a stand away from the fire. The sabre with the fish is placed on the new stand.

"Let it cool a bit," she says. "I'm going to go get more water from the river."

She gets up and walks away. I close my eyes again, having missed a night of sleep in the desert. I can almost hear the howling winds of the desert again. I could feel it too. My eyes snap open. Sand. Sand everywhere, but the firepit is still there. The firepit is still there, and the fire is still burning despite the wind. Sayaka's swords are gone. Her bag is gone. _She's_ gone. Had I imagined it? I drink another gulp of water, feeling the liquid wash the grit out of my throat, before putting my face mask back on.

Then, I walk.

* * *

How long has it been? A day? A week? I don't know. I've lost track of time in here. Each day is the same: sand whipping through the desert. I don't open my mouth anymore, except to drink water in tiny sips. The sand is everywhere. In my hair. In my eyes. It even gets past the handkerchief tied around my mouth and nose. I have sand in my nose, on my tongue. No matter. I walk.

Is this really a witch's barrier? I should be dead already. I walk all day, then all night. Sleep eludes me. Something is… not quite right with my thoughts. My mind feels sluggish, as if I were wading through quicksand. At some point which I do not recall, I cried. The dried tear tracks on my cheeks are uncomfortable, and I try to rub them away. Sand. The wind howls, buffeting me with sand. I walk.

How long has it been? A week? A month? I'm out of water. I've been out of water for some time. Yet I do not collapse or die. Sometimes, the sand dunes look the same to me. Perhaps the desert is one big circle. No one in sight. No rock formations to take shelter in. No water. No food. My hair is dusted brown with sand. No pink is visible. My throat is sore. All that comes out when I attempt to speak is a croak. The sand grows heavier, and I cannot see into the distance. I walk.

How long has it been? Three months? Six? A year? The last person I saw had blue hair. I do not remember her name. The person I need to find has black hair. I do not remember her name. A red-haired figure haunts my thoughts. I do not remember her name. Perhaps, what alarms me most is that I do not remember my own name. The sand is like a dream. The sand is always with me. I am never alone. I remove my handkerchief. The sand engulfs me. The sand tells me I do not need it. The pink cloth floats away in the wind, disappearing into the flurry of sand. Two red ribbons lay in my grip, and I put them into my bag. I walk.

How long has it been? I do not know. It feels like an eternity. The sand is my only companion. I have no voice. The sand does not care. The sand will not abandon me. I cannot hear past the wind, but the sand can convey itself to me. Vague memories play in my mind, like an old silent film in a theatre. A blue-haired...boy? Girl? I don't know. An image of a toddler stabbing at a cherry tomato appears in my head. He looks familiar. The sand washes the image away. The image is irrelevant. I need only the sand. Why am I walking? I stop.

Where am I? Who am I? I do not remember. The desert is all I remember. The desert, and...a girl. With...black hair. I try to think of her name. Nothing. The sand obstructs my vision completely, but I do not need to see. The wind deafens my ears, but I do not need to listen. The dryness lines my throat, but I do not need to speak. The sand will guide me where I need to go. The sand will take me to the black-haired girl. I close my eyes.

I walk.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I live! I have risen from the ashes of...something after being smashed to bits by university work. I spent a lot of time deleting and rewriting this one, and I'm still kind of on the fence about how I will proceed with the next few chapters, but I think this one has become something I like a decent amount. Reviews pls :D lemme know if you liked (or didn't like) this. Or just leave your reactions. Anything is fine, really. Cheers!**

 **EDIT 29/03/2017: I'd just like to take this opportunity to remember a guy from the band I'm in who recently passed away. Won't name him, but just wanted to remember him somehow. Rest in peace, mate.**


	8. Black and White I: Sayaka

**I don't own any characters :(**

* * *

 _Shards of glass and stone and splinters of wood jabbed me everywhere like a pincushion as I smashed through a roof. Vaguely, I was aware of Kyōko landing in a heap beside me. One moment I had been slashing away at those massive grinding gears of Walpurgis, the next moment I found myself hurtling away. I managed to free myself of the debris, plucking the largest shards and splinters out. Lifting my sabre again, I prepared to charge out of whatever building we had landed in._

" _Wait," Kyōko says. I stop to look at her, agitated._

" _What are we waiting for?! Mami-san is still back there! That thing's gonna destroy Mitakihara if we don't go now!" I yell. Adrenaline coursed through me._

" _A-a little h-help here?"_

 _I bit back my retort. Kyōko never asked for help. She was too proud for that. Then, I noticed it. A long beam of wood impaling her stomach, held still by a pile of debris. Guilt flooded me, even if I didn't agree with the redhead's ideals. I walk over and grip the beam._

" _This is gonna hurt," I tell her. She nods, trying to look confident but I can see the fear in her eyes. I pull, then flinch._

 _A bloodcurdling scream fills the building, a sound I'm sure would haunt me until the end of my days. Blood spurts out of both sides of her wounds, and I scramble to take out my soul gem and heal it. My gem flashes as I violently try to pour magic into Kyōko. It's working. I hope. After what seems like an eternity, the wound is closed and the screams have stopped. She takes a shaky breath, then two. Eyes closed. One breath. Two breaths. Three._

 _I reach out and shake her on the shoulder._

" _You alright?" I ask, genuine concern in my voice._

" _Y-yea. Let's go."_

 _I shake my head._

" _I'll go. You stay. You're shaking."_

 _Then I'm gone, running as fast as I can back the way we came. But it was too late. By the time I got back, the giant witch was nowhere to be found. Not a single building survived the storm. More importantly, Mami and Homura were missing. I dispel my sword in a burst of blue light, opting to slow down and look around where we had been fighting. Piles of rubble several stories high filled the area. I spend hours looking around, until a glimmer of yellow catches my eye. Then another. And another. Bits of yellow glass surrounded the area I had wandered into. Surrounded the body of the one who mentored me._

 _I stared. Then I turned. The city was a dead landscape of grey, as if all the colour had been drained from it. I turned the other way. The shelter too, was collapsed. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realised that Homura was missing. After about ten minutes, Kyōko finds me, still staring at the ruins of the shelter._

" _We should go," she says. "Let's go look for your parents."_

 _Dazed, I let her lead me away from Mami's corpse. I wish I hadn't, because inside the ruins of the shelter, we found them. It had taken a few days, at least. My father was folded over, trapped under a large chunk of what was once the roof. Only his head and his feet were visible, along with the insane amount of blood. My mother had her entire lower body crushed. The smell of blood filled my nose, and I retch at the sight. My voice fails me._

" _We should bury them. Come on," Kyōko says, breaking the silence. She begins to shove the chunks of roof away, but stops when she realises I haven't moved. I couldn't move. I had barely ever paid any heed to my parents after discovering the existence of Kyuubei and magic, and now they were gone. I was numb._

" _How do you do it?" I whisper._

" _Come on. We can leave instead if you don't wanna see this."_

" _How do you do it?" I repeat, slightly louder._

" _Do what?"_

" _H-how do you live without your family, Kyōko?"_

" _Sayaka, we should really get goi-"_

" _ANSWER ME!" I scream. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO 'GET GOING'? THEY'RE DEAD!"_

 _I continue screaming a tirade of words I'd never say normally. By the time I'm done, I'm drained of every feeling. Every bit of sadness, of grief. Tears are flowing freely, as I slump into a sitting position beside the rubble crushing my parents. Kyōko takes my soul gem at some point, pressing grief seeds against it, but I didn't care. Hours pass, and I'm aware of almost nothing around me. I come to my senses when Kyōko lightly shakes me on the shoulder._

" _Hey, come on. We should go look for Homura. Maybe pinkie is with her."_

 _As we walk away, I look back and realise Kyōko buried my parents while I was in a daze._

* * *

She did end up answering me later.

"I just stopped caring. I had nothing else besides my family," she said, shrugging. "It hurts at first, but eventually you can detach yourself. But you wouldn't do that. You're not like me."

She was wrong about that. I _did_ end up like her, because I couldn't handle it. I hadn't even felt as much urgency for Madoka as Kyōko had for Homura back when we found them being attacked. And I felt bad for having a lack of concern for Madoka, the last person from my old, normal life. I had no idea why these memories were playing through my head. Then, something occurred to me.

I had been in the witch barrier for hours in a forest, and I had decided to go _fishing_ because I found a river? A vague sense of panic filled me as I realise I had left Madoka with those fish. I wanted to slap myself for not thinking about the possibility that maybe the witch kills people by baiting them into gathering "food". By the time I reach the clearing where I had left Madoka, however, she was nowhere to be found. The fire and the fish lay untouched, so at least she hadn't taken any.

There was just a slight problem. The side of the forest opposite me was no longer there. Instead, it was a vast expanse of black volcanic rocks and ash, creating a hellish landscape. Had she wandered off? That wasn't like Madoka though, not when we're in a situation like this. I hoped nothing bad happened to her. Against my better judgement, I pick up my bag and start traversing the newly-created landscape. The rocks crunched underneath my steps, but I didn't get far until I found a battered circular piece of metal on the ground. Homura's shield. Some grief seeds that were unused were scattered around the shield. Three of them were coated in blood. A small trail of red leads around a hill, and I follow it after picking up the shield and the grief seeds.

As I circled around the base of the hill, my least favourite person came into view. Homura was trudging forward, leaving behind a trail of blood. Sighing, I walked towards her.

"Oi," I call out. She keeps moving forward, ignoring me. "Oi!"

She ignores me, continuing to walk. I jog to catch up, grabbing her arm and forcefully turning her. The sight I'm greeted with makes me recoil a little. On her face was an expression I'd never seen from her before. She gripped her right wrist with her left hand. A bleeding wrist.

"Sit down, transfer student. Let me heal that."

She shakes her head, trying to pull away.

"Fine. At least do it yourself, then."

She's looking at the ground, completely unlike her usual cold and confident self. Well, she's been different ever since Mitakihara. She turns and continues walking.

"You should really heal that. You don't want Madoka seeing you like this, do you?"

At the sound of Madoka's name, she comes to a stop. Her movements are slow, but she eventually does take her soul gem out. It's almost completely black, the usual violet blotted out. She takes a look at her gem, then looks at the sky. I'm debating whether or not she's lost her senses when she answers that question for me. By tossing the gem over her shoulder. My body moves of its own accord, diving to catch the gem before it hits the ground.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing?" I ask angrily. I press a grief seed against it, revealing more purple.

"Idiot," I mutter. What the hell was going on?

* * *

She took her soul gem back wordlessly, stoic and cold like her old self once I had finished cleaning her gem and healing her wrist. Yet, something in her demeanour weakened her image. Of all the people I could run into, it had to be Homura. We barely got along, even for Walpurgisnacht. So when we walked, we walked in silence. She took the shield back as well, muttering a "thanks", which is more than I expected. The ash continued to fall around us, and we were nowhere close to the witch.

"Have you seen Madoka?" she asks suddenly, breaking the silence. It takes me a moment to realise she was talking to me.

"Yea. Don't know where. This barrier keeps shifting, I think."

"And Kyōko?"

"Not a single trace. What about you?"

She shakes her head. We keep walking. Strangely, I don't feel as much hostility towards her as I once had; perhaps a side effect of losing everything. Something about her seems broken, however. I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but the way she acts is different from the days leading up to Walpurgis. In those days, she had been a cold sort of determined. Even if I didn't like her, I had no doubts about her ability. Now, though, she seemed more dejected in a way. Lost, almost. Then again, we all were. I remembered when Kyōko had shooed me off back in Tokyo so she could talk to Homura outside. Something was clearly going on, but I figured now wasn't quite the best time to push for answers. Mainly, because of what was up ahead.

"Hey," I say. "W-we might wanna stop."

She follows my gaze to the distance. A large, but vague, shape was lumbering towards us. It was the witch. Numerous times floated around it, forming incomprehensible words in whatever language witches use. Homura just stared at it, while I readied my sabre.

"Homura?"

No response.

"Oi, Homura!"

She was still as a statue. Unblinking.

"Transfer student!"

She started, as if waking from a dream, and whipped her head around to look at me.

"What's the plan? Do we fight it?"

The witch was a monstrosity, even by witch standards. It was huge, almost half the size of Walpurgis. As it approached, I could feel the same tension Kyōko and I had felt in the dark barrier back in Tokyo. I waited for Homura to answer. She stood for a long time, staring at the advancing witch. Finally, she spoke.

"We should run. We can't take that thing alone."

"What if we can't find it again?"

"Would you rather die?"

"...Fair enough," I concede, lowering my sword. "So we go find Kyōko first before fighting?"

"Yes. Let's get out of here."

She turns and starts to walk away briskly, but at that moment an ear-piercing roar fills our ears. It's excruciatingly loud, and I'm sure I got permanent ear damage from it. I make the mistake of looking at the witch, which is now charging at us. Frighteningly quickly too, much faster than most of the witches I've seen. The two of us break out into a full-on sprint, but another glance over my shoulder showed me how fast the monstrosity was catching up. Looks like running wasn't a feasible option.

"I hope you're in fighting condition, transfer student!" I yell, stopping abruptly, turning, and raising my sword. The telltale _click_ of her guns told me everything I needed to know. And for a while, just for a while, we stood together for once.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I'm back! :D**

 **Recent events at home and at university have slowed me down and I've been really stressed out for several weeks now. The worst of it is over though so hopefully regular updates can happen again. The next few chapters has been a huge headache for me to map out since there were a few directions I could take this story and I had trouble deciding which to take. Anyways, as usual, I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Thanks to FoldedHands for pointing out that Sayaka didn't have enough development, since I had completely overlooked that up until now. I'm going to ease in more character into the blueberry gradually.**


	9. Update

**So, I figured it was about time I rose from the figurative dead and put out at least an update on where I am in regards to this story for the people who followed this.**

 **This is easily my most successful story, though that's not really saying much considering the abundance of writing talent within the Madoka Magica community. The positive response I got from this helped keep me going on this for a decent amount of time. Eventually, I did run out of steam. I figured, "hey, I'll just take a break maybe for a week or two and refresh my mind". Unfortunately, that's not how it worked out as university really began dragging me down and family issues became persistent. I began to worry about my future prospects, since being a history student didn't exactly open a lot of options. Long story short, I sank into depression for a while and only recently have I started pulling my life back together.**

 **I will try to get this story rolling again soon. Hopefully doing this will perhaps revive some of the passion I had for writing a year and a half ago and I hope I can do at least as well as I used to with writing these chapters, if not better.**

 **I'm not really sure how many of the people who followed this will see this but if you're still around, thank you for staying. See you soon! :)**


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